VARIOUS ARTISTS "Scrap!" LP (LTD)

For Japanese Punk Rock, a lineage of classic compilations serves as the true canonical documents of time, place and sound. Beginning with the formative bursts of Tokyo Rockers and Tokyo New Wave ’79, the roots of Japan’s dark, intelligent and urban punk mode were outlined in classic fashion. This would mutate and permeate as the post-punk and hardcore sounds grew throughout the 1980s, distinct punk styles so expertly addressed via the Rebel Street and City Rockers compilations, respectively. The 1990s saw many Japanese punks looking back to classics of UK and US 70s punk and power-pop for inspiration. It is with this savage scene that Mangrove Records assumed the role of chief documentarian and compiler. Chloroform and Ad Vice, two razor-sharp Mangrove collections from the 1990s and 2000s, presented acts like REGISTRATORS, FIRST ALERT, FIRESTARTER and RADIO SHANGHAI in proper context and to a larger audience, creating a fanaticism that moves far outside the Japanese punk scene. SCRAP! is Mangrove’s authoritative statement on the 2010s and its position in this great class of defining compilations is irrefutable. SCRAP! boasts 17 top-tier punkers from 6 of Japan’s most notable and vibrant recent acts: • CAR CRASH --- 3 dead-end children exuding manic scree under a KILLED BY DEATH influence. • MIDDLE EDGE --- Very cold, very tough and anthemic post-punk rumble, wise and deliberate. • BLACK AND WHITE --- Note-perfect update on spiky UK ’77 punk a la Small Wonder and Raw. • CENTIPEDE --- Red patent leather chaos from drunker & punker side of the tracks. • DIALS --- Heirs to the classic sound, as mod, punk and power-pop converge in a perfect way. • LOUDMOUTH --- Seriousness and smarts be damned, they are here to punk you into shit. To put it bluntly, there is no better window into today’s Japanese punk scene available. Secret Mission Records has saved domestic audiences countless man-hours, hair-pulling and Google-translating by releasing this record in direct partnership with Mangrove, creating the opportunity to hear new, thrilling punk from Japan with minimal digging. This is Punk Rock Japan, today and tomorrow.-Mitch Cardwell, January 2018 Limited to 200 copies in the US. (Secret Mission)